Macron talks with key players in a bid to form a new govt
Paris, Aug 23: After the excitement of the Paris Olympics and a Mediterranean vacation, now French President Emmanuel Macron has to figure out how to make his country governable again. Faced with a hung parliament, social tensions and ballooning debt, Macron kicked off talks Friday with key political players in a bid to choose a new prime minister who would form a government and end the deadlock created by snap legislative elections last month. Members of the left-wing New Popular Front coalition that won the most seats pressured Macron for a quick decision. Their nominee for prime minister, little-known civil servant Lucie Castets, said after Friday’s meetings that she was ready to govern, and ready for compromise to get things done. But the party only has about a third of the seats in the National Assembly. Macron’s centrist alliance came in second and the far-right National Rally came in third. (AP)
Floods kill 15 people, maroon over 4.5 million in Bangladesh
Dhaka, Aug 23: Monsoon rainfall-triggered floods in deltaic Bangladesh and upstream Indian regions killed at least 15 people and affected over four million others in this country, posing a huge administrative challenge to the newly installed interim government amid a political transition. Several rivers are flowing above the danger mark, particularly in north-eastern, eastern and south-eastern Bangladesh inundating many cities and towns apart from several hundred villages killing people, damaging the infrastructures and disrupting communication lines. “At least 15 people have been killed and 4.8 million people in as many as 11 districts have been affected by floods triggered by heavy rains in Bangladesh,” state-run news agency BSS said quoting Md Kamrul Hasan, secretary of the Disaster Management Ministry. (PTI)